Popular Japanese Capsule Hotels Embracing Bitcoin

Since the Japanese government started recognizing bitcoin, an increasing number of merchants in the country have adopted it as a payment option. Among them are a couple of Japan’s iconic and popular capsule hotels.

Capsule Hotels Accepting Bitcoin

Capsule hotels, sometimes called pod hotels, are found all over Japan. “They’re unlike any other accommodation: Individual pods, sometimes dozens to a room, each a self-contained mini-hotel room, with a bed, lights, and sometimes even a TV,” Forbes contributor Geoffrey Morrison described.

The Japanese bitcoin exchange Coincheck provides two capsule hotels with merchant payment solutions. The luxury capsule hotel Anshin Oyado started accepting bitcoin in March, while the Comics & Capsule Hotel Comicap began accepting it as of this Friday.

In an earlier interview, Coincheck told Bitcoin.com that the company “holds 99% of the bitcoin payment market share.” The company charges 1% fee per transaction on bitcoin payments, which is only “1/3 to 1/5 of the credit card transaction fee,” its website details. Payments are converted to yen and deposited in merchants accounts immediately.

Comics & Capsule Hotel Comicap

Opened in February, this 60-room accommodation in Kyoto describes itself as “a cosmopolitan relaxation space with tens of thousands of comic books, mainly in the form of capsule hotel style accommodation.” There are over 30,000 comic books on the premises and a room there can cost as low as ¥2,000 (approximately $18) per person when booked online.

Runsystem also operates another Comicap hotel of the same concept which is located in Sapporo, the largest city on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The company also owns Jiyuukuukan, a “popular Manga cafe in Japan,” Coincheck Business Development Lead Kagayaki Kawabata told Bitcoin.com. These related businesses, however, have not yet decided to accept bitcoin. The Comics & Capsule Hotel Comicap announced this week:

From Friday June 16, guests can pay with bitcoin for hotel bookings at the facility in Kyoto Shin-Kyogoku. Bitcoin payments is facilitated by Coincheck.

Luxury Capsule Hotel Anshin Oyado

In March, the Tokyo-based Anshin Oyado, operated by the Sanza Group, became the first capsule hotel to accept bitcoin. It is also the very first in the hotel industry in Japan to do so, according to Coincheck, who facilitates the hotel’s bitcoin payments.

There are five Anshin Oyado capsule hotels in the Tokyo area. The one that accepts bitcoin is in front of Shinjuku station, which is the world’s busiest metro station based on the daily number of passengers passing through, according to the Guinness World Records. A room there costs between ¥4,980 and ¥6,180 (~$45-$55), according to its website.

“This company also operates the karaoke box chain Pasera which is pretty popular in Japan,” Kawabata shared with Bitcoin.com.

While operators of both Comicap and Anshin Oyado capsule hotels have other businesses that do not currently accept bitcoin, Kawabata noted:

They have decided to use Coincheck Payment experimentally for capsule hotels. They may expand the bitcoin payment to other services as well.

Would you like to stay in a capsule hotel you paid for with bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

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